English Version

Sometimes it is better to bring something to an end and start over. That is what the Scottish brothers Matthew and Steve Morris had in mind when they quit Milwalkie about one year ago, an Indie Rock band they formed as teenagers in Aberdeen and continued as young adults after moving to Berlin in 2011. But some recordings and many concerts later, the fire has gone out.

New sparks began to fly in winter 2017, when the brothers teamed up with Douglas Mackay for Soft Crystals. Even though the three have not released a proper album, yet, the songs on YouTube and Bandcamp work very well as an introduction to the band‘s creative vision. “The Missing Suburbs“ or “The 24hr store“ stand for honest storytelling and laid-back Indie Rock, dealing with personal struggle, past relationships and loneliness, drawing also inspirations from the cinematic world of Richard Linklater and Jim Jarmusch.

The new beginning did not go unnoticed. In their short period of existence Soft Crystals already toured in bigger halls as opening act for the Berlin band Pictures and the German singer-songwriter Philipp Dittberner. So what comes next? We talked with Matt about the past, present and future of his new band!

Fever Creek Festival: Matt, in 2011 you moved with your brother to Berlin. How did that happen?
Matt: We were bored of Aberdeen, our small city, and the idea of moving anywhere else in Britain was too boring as well. Steve had been in Berlin years before that. When he told me about it, I thought that sounds like the place to be. We had no savings, no plan, but it worked out. We are both much happier because of it. It was not really about the music and it is still not. Steve owns a coffee shop which we basically run with all of our friends. So sometimes it feels like we do not even have jobs. If I lived in Scotland, I would probably have to work 60 hours a week to live like I do here.

Do you feel at home in Berlin?
It is weird. Whenever I visit my parents back in Aberdeen I feel like a tourist there. I do not get that feeling of returning to where I belong but I also do not have it here yet.

Soft Crystals stands for the new musical beginning in your life. Why did you choose that name?
I just said Soft Crystals in my head and I liked the sound of the oxymoron. It could mean something, but it probably does not.

Your latest single is called “The 24hr Store”. Did you had a particular store in mind while writing the song?
“The 24hr Store” is about me getting ice cream with my ex girlfriend in this huge supermarket near my parent‘s house in Aberdeen. There is really nothing to do there. So for some nights this is pretty much the best option.

After releasing a couple of songs on the web, what are your future plans?
Right now we are rehearsing a lot. We want to record our first proper release live. I have always recorded drums myself. It is usually just easier and quicker because when I have the idea in my head, I can just lay it all down quickly. The only thing about that is, it usually stops the songs from being as dynamic as they could be because when you come together with people in a recording room, all kinds of different ideas happen. Then when we end up playing those songs live, they sound much better than the recordings. They are just more interesting after having being hashed out. So this time we decided to capture that live sound.